Roses for a Rose
by candelight
Summary: Turtle tot fiction. Continuation of “Lost in New York.” While the turtles are recuperating from injuries in both body and soul, Splinter decides a little thank you never hurt anyone. Dedicated to Rhoda J, of course!


Roses for a Rose

* * *

Turtle tot fiction. Continuation of "Lost in New York." While the turtles are recuperating from injuries in both body and soul, Splinter decides a little thank you never hurt anyone. Dedicated to Rhoda J, of course!

Bonjour! This fiction is a tribute to another fanfiction writer I admire very much. ^^ Hoping you are well, Rhoda-school is _tres dificil-_but be of good cheer.

I do not own the TMNT. Or the CMNT (Chibi Mutant Ninja-in-training Turtles, either. ^^ Ah, well. Everyone wants a chibi turtle….or four, don't they?

My GOODNESS….my starting fictions weren't very good at all, I'm afraid. ~ My spelling, grammar, AND Punctuation are quite atrocious…..gomen, gomen, gomen!

~*~

_Quote:_

_"Life is mostly froth and bubble,  
Two things stand like stone,  
Kindness in another's trouble,  
Courage in your own."  
~Adam Lindsay Gordon_

*~*~*

The snow had made the air smell so…clean.

So were Rhoda's thoughts as she deeply inhaled the sharp, somewhat chilly air with a small smile on her lips, shivering slightly.

It did not snow now-but there was plenty amassed on the ground in glittering mounds, and your breath was a small puff of fog that dissipated quickly enough in the frosty air. The girl walked quickly; occasionally having a blond/brown streak of hair falling against her face. With a sigh, she impatiently brushed the strand aside-she had very little time-and hurried on, drawing the black scarf that hung around her neck tighter.

The scarf by itself was small-but was generally the first one she reached for on the hook (Next to many assorted articles belonging to her family) when she went in and out of the wintery weather that had stricken New York with a vengeance in the past few days.

She managed a smile. The scarf was a simple enough object…..but one she rather treasured, touched that the…."person" who had made it had such a thought to do so.

She smiled, teeth chattering from the effort.

Well, not too many of her classmates could truthfully say that a rat had given her-after knitting it himself-scarf.

Well….not without receiving a rather strange look, anyhoo.

She straightened the rather aged, somewhat tattered flower at her front with a smile, then hurried on.

*~*~*~*

_Brrrrr!_

Rhoda paused by the all too familiar alley, drawing arms that now had goosebumps literally carpeting the skin-well trained eyes scanning the somewhat dirtier snow before her eyes brightened.

Excellent.

Mittened hands reaching forwards, she cautiously reached for the slightly loosened manhole cover, then tugged counterclockwise once.

Then clockwise twice.

And half counterclockwise.

With a grunt, she lifted the heavy metal, looking at the hungry cavern of darkness that had seemingly opened up in the middle of the earth.

Rhoda shuddered. Couldn't exactly call this alley to between place cheerful-but it did lead to somewhere much better, in the end.

With another, contented sigh escaping her, Rhoda slid forward, manhole cover clanking as she did so.

She looked up.

The skyline was a rich, berry juice black color, exploding with tiny white stars tonight.

Another sigh, before the rust of the manhole cover greeted her vision, and down the girl slid in absolute darkness, water dimly clanking from frozen pipes as the dull echo of empty wind brushing through wrecked debris swam through her ears.

*~*~

"Ooof!"

As she leapt off the rusty ladder as usual, Rhoda staggered a step before reaching the old cement.

Whoops. Must've been sixteen-not fifteen steps.

Ah, well.

Snapping her trademark goggles over her eyes, Rhoda slid through a familiar passage, heart swinging in her chest-as was the cloth bag on her wrist.

It was a long journey there-and what felt to be a much longer journey back.

Odd. It was never like that in vice-versa mode.

Rhoda obediently bent as she reached the third tunnel, careful not to bang her head. The rat had told

her enough times that that was an unpleasant experience by itself-and rather then experimenting,

Rhoda decided to take his word on it.

As weary feet dragged towards a familiar archway-near a hidden door, someone had already grabbed her hands and was talking very loudly.

The girl smiled, hands wrapping around Mikey's cool hands.

Excellent. He'd been able to properly see her this time.

_Clunk, clunk, clunk._

Someone was gently chastising Mikey for being out of bed. Rhoda trembled.

Boy…she was feeling rather woozy at this point….

Something warm took her hand, and began to guide her into the entrance.

Rhoda managed another smile, but her head was spinning by now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_Miss Rhoda-_

_Yes, we are alive and well. It would've hardly looked good for either of us to be in the company of mutants after a public kidnapping...I must thank you_

_once again for looking after my young ones in my abscence._

_Although it may be wiser for us to part ways, I can tell my children do not wish to cut you from our lives._

_If ever you wish to meet, simply leave your note-it is near our home-and I will be well prepared. The little ones would be delighted to see you once again._

_I know I would._

_I must get the young ones home-they need time to heal._

_Farewell, my friend-did I not tell you we would meet again?_

_Merry Early Christmas_

_Splinter, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael._

The girl smiled faintly as she quietly placed her now somewhat crumpled note back into her pocket with a sigh, leaning her head near the fireplace hearth.

The fire was crackling readily-it had been easy enough to find crates from old floral deliveries to give to the Hamatos for good lumber. Rhoda's eyelids flickered, and she reluctantly stood to reach for the nearby broom.

She started as a hand touched her back before she could grasp the handle.

Gah! The rat could sneak up on her like no one's business!

A chuckle, and she became aware that the rat was shaking his head.

"Miss Jacobs, you may sit. I already swept-and it would be best if you sat for a while and got your breath back," he said mildly, giving her an affectionate clasp on the shoulder.

"Dear-don't work so hard. I notice you already cleared the kitchen."

Rhoda blushed.

Okay….so maybe she DID wipe the counter. SO what?

…..and then swept the room…..

Put dishes away…..

…and then mopped the floor before going to play Guess Who with Raph-won three rounds-or a round of Go Fish with Donny….and lost two?

Splinter gave her a look of gentle amusement as she sank back to the warm floor, then trotted off to the kitchen for the basin warming on the campstove. Contents of the a first-aid kit were lying strewn over a table as usual-and the little turtles were whispering and fidgeting on the nearby sofa Splinter had salvaged.

The girl smiled, before closing her eyes.

You couldn't help but have a sense of fellowship with the people you busted out of a secret criminal organization's stronghold.

Just one of life's inscrutable forces, she supposed.

School had ended today for the term. The girl was glad it did-even after her week of missing school…in the aftermath of some…interesting events the Hamatos nor Rhoda were exactly glad to discuss.

If her parents knew she were here, well…..

They most likely wouldn't be too happy, considerably because after the stages Hun and the Dragons had set up, her family had been understandably more anxious for Rhoda's safety……..

….and, well, they weren't on the "Aware" side of things when it came to Mutants living underneath the sewer streets.

Rhoda shifted guiltfully from where she half sat, half lay, still wrapped in a quilt.

Lying was exactly something she enjoyed doing-quite the opposite. But it was a necessity in this case, so….

Splinter had placed her near the embers-for that, she was grateful. After gently shooting down her offers to aid him, the rat began what was now a nightly tradition of changing the turtles' bandages while she watched.

Mikey energetically waved a little past her direction from where he lay on the couch-she managed to grin in return, though feeling slightly sad.

The turtle's vision still hadn't become fully 20/20 again….

Every night, Splinter removed the dirtying bandages from the previous day, gave each wound a good washing in hot water-Rhoda had had to, in the past, hold down a less then happy and yelping turtle in her arms while Splinter hurried with the fresh bandaging-but tonight, he had ordered her to stay down.

She was extremely pale by this time-but with a tad bit of a flush in her cheekbones. Best to let her sit this one out.

As Splinter lowered the steaming basin of water, a lump grew in Rhoda's throat as he reached for Leo's wrist after cleaning Mikey's eyes. She jumped up.

"Please-let me help, Sen-"

The world spun in a blur of color, and, as a grey of blur hurried towards her, everything tilted wildly to the side-!

_"Miss Jacobs-!"_

And Rhoda promptly fainted.

(Sorry, sorry!)

It was…warm.

The smallest turn, as two eyes blearily flickered open, closed, and parted slightly again.

It was warm, dark, and very quiet.

Fingertips faintly brushed-so slightly, like the wingspan of a butterfly to something soft.

Rhoda's brown eyes widened.

And she sprung up from a small cocoon of blankets, heart thudding wildly.

*~*

The first thing she noticed was that she had been lying on a squashy sofa , quilts snugly wrapped around her. The flames were slowly dying into jewel like embers, and were softly glowing in the late evening shadow.

The turtles had gone. But, judging from the sounds of their nearby room, they had gone to sleep long ago-murmuring, breathing deeply-the occasional snore-and Splinter had most likely retired to his futon by now.

There was something near the couch front. Something white and neatly folded into a-

Relying on the dim light, Rhoda vaguely managed to make out Splinter's slightly uneven handwriting. He was a little better at Kanji….

_My dear Miss Jacobs,_

_By the time you read this, I do hope you're feeling more….er….above the weather, as you young people may like to say. I do not know._

_It seems you were suffering from a faint fatigue-my sons were a little alarmed, but hopefully, there was no harm done._

The girl sighed in relief before continuing.

_I do ask that you rest occasionally, dear. It is not my wish for you to become seriously ill. Far from it…._

_But I did manage to contact your mother using that…..text messaging young people are so fond of. It did take me quite a few tries-and I might add IM does sound rather impractical-but there it is. Your mother believes you are staying at a friend's house._

Rhoda blinked, then reread the passage.

Well.

….oookay. AN odd sequence of events, but….

_If there is anything you need-please do not hesitate to ask._

_Splinter _

_Oh….and I almost forgot…..your family owns a Florist Shop, correct? I believe this is the least I can do for your help…._

Rhoda curiously looked at the table next to her.

Her eyes widened, and another lump rose to her throat as she quickly grasped another card….

Next to a vase of red roses, still in bloom.

_Derived from Greek 'ροδον (rhodon) meaning "rose". In the New Testament this name was borne by a maid in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. As an English given name, Rhoda came into use in the 17th century._

_Bless you, dear girl-and it is my hope that these will give you at least 1/3 the comfort you have given us in this troubled time._

S, L, R, D, M

Rhoda slowly pulled away from the red and white blooms, sweet scent still swimming in her head before abashedly wiping her eyes.

Her eyes flickered, smile not leaving her lips.

Sleep came very easily-a blackout.

Hallo! Sorry if I was a little too dramatic……my bad, my bad!


End file.
